Fiji

Abel Tasman’s expedition sights islands in the Fiji group in 1643. Later European accounts give the islands a fearsome reputation, focusing on warfare and cannibalism. They also record a society with complex artistic traditions, including women’s tattooing, known as veiqia.

Some designs cover the thighs and buttocks, remaining hidden beneath the traditional liku skirt. Theodor Kleinschmidt records examples in drawings that preserve details rarely visible in other historical images. He is killed in the Bismarck Archipelago in 1881, but his drawings survive.

Fiji becomes a British colony in 1874. Missionary influence and colonial change affect the practice of veiqia, while surviving images preserve a record of its patterns and cultural significance.